And All That Jazz
by SetsuntaMew
Summary: Hakuryuu is a busy man with a respectable life, which doesn't always leave time for him to visit his vaudeville performer boyfriend in the sketchy end of town. Judal, however, has his own unique ways of persuading his stuffy boy-toy to come over. 1920s AU.


Judal isn't blood spattered when Hakuryuu arrives, surprisingly enough. He's waiting in the doorway of the kitchen, hip cocked against the scratched wood, and barely dressed in a half-buttoned shirt and loose slacks. Hakuryuu sheds his heavy winter coat and sighs.

"So, why did you kill _this_ one?"

Judal looks like the cat who caught the canary. "To see your stunning smile!"

Hakuryuu pauses, his foot halfway out of his shoe, before deciding not to even look up. "You can't kill people because you're bored."

"Yes I can; I killed him and I'd kill him again if I could!"

" _Judal!_ "

Judal slinks over and drapes an arm over Hakuryuu's shoulders. Hakuryuu brushes him off and goes further into the flat, looking around for the body. Judal pouts. "Oh, come on, he followed me home last night and tried to feel me up in an alley. Didn't think I was packin the right package, you know?"

Hakuryuu, while genuinely concerned, still has to look out for Judal's freedom. "Even so, you can't keep yelling about killing people."

"Why not?" He looks as careless as always.

"Do you want to get caught?"

"Nah," Judal follows Hakuryuu and cuts him off, "but you'll always get me off."

Hakuryuu nearly throws his hands up in exasperation. Instead he presses a hand to his temples. "The walls are thin, and you _do_ have neighbors. If you're not quiet, someone is going to hear you eventually," Hakuryuu says, and he can see the moment it clicks. Judal's eyes widen, bright and worried.

"Ehh, you're right! Then they'll find out my little secret, and I ain't goin to girly jail!" He says it with the sort of flippancy he saves for something that legitimately bothers him, as though the idea of getting locked up in a women's prison is simultaneously the most ridiculous and most horrifying thought in the world.

Hakuryuu sighs again. "Then please stop yelling."

Judal laughs and pulls him closer, lips brushing Hakuryuu's as he talks, and his voice is a breathy whisper. "You'd never let me hang."

"I'd never let you get caught," he corrects, closing the miniscule space between them. Hakuryuu drops an arm to hold Judal's waist tightly and they nearly crash into a wall of the cramped apartment. Judal's gasping into his mouth, fingers digging into his sides as he grinds against Hakuryuu's crotch. Hakuryuu has him pinned against the wall and he trails sharp, quick kisses across Judal's jaw and down his neck, ending with nipping at his ear. Judal lets out an embarrassingly loud gasp before shoving Hakuryuu back. It's enough to knock him off balance and onto the floor, but he only has a second of confusion before Judal is in his lap, straddling him and leaving needy kisses on his scarred cheek.

"Was that-" Judal interrupts with a drawn out kiss, and Hakuryuu has to catch his breath before continuing. "Was that necessary?"

Judal pauses near his ear, ragged breathing loud in the small space. "Hmm?"

Hakuryuu can hear the grin in his voice, even if he can't see it. "You know."

"I dunno. I wanted in your lap," Judal explains, entirely unapologetic. "And I know you've got a secret boner for being pushed around."

His breath catches in his throat. Judal knows too many of his embarrassing secrets, childhood blunders and nervously explained sexual preferences alike. If it was anyone else it would be unbearable, but with Judal it's nicely comforting. Hakuryuu grabs Judal's chin and forces him to meet his gaze. "I'm not good at keeping secrets when you're involved."

There's a lovely dusting of pink across Judal's cheeks before he kisses Hakuryuu again, deep and needy and pleading, pulling at the buttons of his shirt and squirming in his lap. Hakuryuu has his fingers in the base of Judal's hair, scratching lightly and tugging small handfuls just enough to make Judal groan into his mouth.

Between gasps and kisses, Hakuryuu tries to make useful conversation. "Ju-judal. You have to, ah-" and he's cut off by Judal sucking on his neck, hard enough that it just hurts, just enough. "-I'm, trying to help, please-"

Judal pulls off his neck with an annoyed noise. "Whaaaat? Come on, I'm trying to get laid here!"

"You _did_ just kill someone," Hakuryuu begins. Judal rolls his eyes and Hakuryuu carefully ignores him. "I need to know more about it."

"I _told_ you already; it was just some bum from the bar. He's a nobody!" Judal tries to go back for a kiss and instead, his lips gracelessly meet Hakuryuu's hand. "I swear! What more do you want from me?"

" _Last time_ you told me it was a nobody, he ended up being the missing son of a senator. Do you remember what a mess that was to cover up?"

Judal flops backwards with an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, yeah, and you fixed it. This time he _really_ is though, I'm sure of it."

Hakuryuu pulls his eyes away from the pale strip of Judal's stomach that captured his attention. It's an unfair tease, made worse because Hakuryuu knows it wasn't even on purpose. He settles for running a hand through his hair, loosening the last few strands from their tie. "God, Judal, but _why_ do you have to keep this nonsense up?"

He gives Hakuryuu a sinfully seductive look, staring up through his thick lashes. "So you'll keep coming over, of course."

"You don't have to kill people to get me over here."

"Yes I do! Normally it's 'I'm busy today, Judal' or 'Some of us have _real_ jobs' but as soon as I say I've killed someone you show up almost immediately."

Hakuryuu groans unhappily and rubs his forehead. Dragging important information out of Judal usually gives him a headache, and it looks like today is no different. "Please don't tell me that you're murdering people just to get my attention."

Judal grins, all teeth, and Hakuryuu almost wishes he had better taste in men. "You _are_. Oh, god."

"I mean, it's not the _only_ reason. There are a lot of fucked up weirdos around here, and the bar attracts 'em too."

"You could move in with me. That solves both problems, you know."

"Not _all_ of the problems! I'd still have the creeps at the bar..." Judal trails off and stares wistfully at a nondescript section of wall. "Someday I'll have an act in a _real_ club, some place that isn't so shitty and cheap."

Hakuryuu runs a hand over his stomach to comfort him, and Judal pushes his shirt further up in invitation. "You'll get there, Judal, I'm sure."

Judal sighs. "Sure, I guess. I mean, I could just get my own club..."

"I suppose I already support you; I could try to buy you a classy bar, too."

Judal screeches. "What? _What?_ I wasn't serious! What would I even do with my own place? I don't know how to run one or anything-"

"It would be nice though, right?" Hakuryuu runs a thumb over one of Judal's nipples, and his happy noise of pleasure stops the rant. "Call it _'The Black Sun'_ , and make it yours."

"Ah, Hakuryuu, you're something else."

Hakuryuu has one hand between Judal's thighs and the other continues rubbing circles around his nipple. "Am I?"

Judal squirms happily with the physical attention. "You're spoiling me! I'm not smart like you, Hakuryuu, I can't make a business work."

"I don't know how to run a bar, either." Hakuryuu shrugs before continuing. "We could hire someone for that."

"Ehh, I don't even know if I want to be in some 'classy' place or whatever. I'm not really a classy guy." Judal punctuates this by kicking up a leg onto Hakuryuu's shoulder so his loose fitting pants can fall to expose the silk stockings he has on beneath them. "A guy singing and dancing about how often he gets mistaken for a girl and how he gets off on wearing lady's underwear is hardly the sort of highbrow content that needs a big concert hall. Not that I mind; I like making people laugh. And making them uncomfortable."

Hakuryuu kisses his ankle and up his calf. "I like watching you make people uncomfortable."

He makes pleased noises as Hakuryuu kisses him, his leg twitching a little but still resting on Hakuryuu's shoulder. "You gonna come to my show tonight, then?"

"I was planning on it, especially after you got followed home last night." Hakuryuu runs a hand over Judal's stockings appreciatively. "I like these, by the way. They're a good look for you."

"You would, wouldn't you?" There's a teasing smile in Judal's voice that matches the grin on his face. "Is that what you're into these days, Hakuryuu? Seeing me in women's clothing?"

Hakuryuu laughs against his calf before finally pushing his leg off. "Maybe. Or maybe I just like seeing you in stockings and garters and nothing else."

Judal pushes himself back up into Hakuryuu's lap, cackling the whole time. "You dirty perv. I guess I can debase myself for you, though."

"You _enjoy_ debasing yourself for the entertainment of others."

"I do!" Judal laughs and wiggles his ass happily into Hakuryuu's crotch. "But I'd enjoy debasing myself for you even more."

Hakuryuu gives up on conversation for the time being, instead deciding to go back to kissing Judal. He's got his hands resting on Judal's hips, enjoying the feeling of him squirming in his lap, and Hakuryuu gets lost in touching Judal, enjoying the feeling of him squirming in his lap. Hakuryuu gets lost in touching Judal, running one hand through his thick black hair, breathing in the scent of his neck as nips a trail across it and up to Judal's ear. Judal shudders as Hakuryuu breathes over it, waiting for a bite of a kiss that never quite comes. "I love you," he whispers, and that sends a jerking shiver through Judal that no touch could ever summon up. Hakuryuu smirks against Judal's skin. "I do."

"Yeah, yeah, I know-" Judal grabs the back of Hakuryuu's head and tries to push him back down into the crook of his neck. Oh, he's embarrassed. That's fine. Hakuryuu bites his collarbone, and the hand still resting on Judal's thigh teases up under the shirt, lightly dragging short nails across Judal's delicate sides. Judal makes a pleased little noise, and Hakuryuu gets to feel him squirm in his lap again.

It's nice, so nice Hakuryuu nearly forgets why he's here in the first place. But eventually he pulls back from nipping at Judal's neck, and he gets a soft noise of complaint in response. "Getting back to the problem at hand, I have to figure out who to pin this one on."

Judal pulls a face. "Ugh. Sure."

"I _know_ you don't care about this part." He sighs and looks thoughtful. "I do wish I could pin one of these on my family, but there hasn't been a good way to."

Judal gets a devious look in his eyes, his smile stretching just a bit too wide. "We could, though. We just have to kill the right person! Like your mother, you hate her! But no one else is fond of her either, that wrinkly old hag."

Hakuryuu snaps back to attention, his eyes widening. "Judal!"

"What? It's a good plan!"

He's thought about killing his mother before, in secret fantasies, but never as a thing that he could realistically accomplish.

"I just never...thought about it as an option. But, Kouen has motive; he's first in line to get most of the inheritance if she's out of the picture." Hakuryuu stops to think some more, and his slowly growing smile nearly matches Judal's. "That could actually work, if we could pull it off, and then I wouldn't have to deal with keeping up appearances around them."

"See? See! I have good ideas sometimes!"

"I know you do," Hakuryuu responds. "I could kiss you again, I love you so much."

Judal preens. "What's stopping you?"

Hakuryuu doesn't answer, instead leaning in to reward him with a kiss, before catching sight of the clock. " _Fuck_ , Judal, you're going to be late!"

"What?" His eyes are still half shut and there's confusion in his voice. "Late?"

"To the bar. You have to perform tonight, remember?"

" **Fuck** , _fuck_ , you're right!" Judal topples out of his lap and unbuttons the rest of his shirt, flinging it across the room and frantically looking for the rest of his clothes. "Do you see any binders anywhere?"

Hakuryuu glances around and sees one half shoved under a table, next to a crumpled shirt and bloody knife. "Under there."

Judal rolls across the floor and grabs it, trying to shimmy into it without unclasping it and only making a fool of himself. He's sadly whining, bandeaux sideways across his shoulders, when Hakuryuu takes pity on him and unfastens the back. "Thanks, thanks! Gimme that shirt, too."

"It's got dried blood on it."

"Aw, shit. Did I leave the knife on it?" Judal scrunches up his face in annoyance. "I guess I'll wear the one I just had on."

"You threw it over there," Hakuryuu tells Judal before he starts looking for it, gesturing to where it had landed. Judal gives him a grateful look and pulls it on, fingers fumbling over buttons in his rush, and it ends up buttoned sideways.

Hakuryuu pauses in gathering up his coat to help Judal again, unbuttoning his shirt and straightening it in order to button it up properly this time. Judal fidgets as Hakuryuu tucks it into his pants but accepts his assistance without complaint.

Judal vanishes into the bathroom and comes out with his box of makeup and some jewelry, small rubies dangling from his ears. "Come on, come on, you were right; we gotta leave right now or I'm gonna be too late to do my makeup right."

"Shoes, Judal." Hakuryuu is ready, standing at the door with Judal's coat in hand.

"Right!" He slips some on, laces already loosely tied for convenience, and grabs his coat from Hakuryuu. " _Now_ we gotta run."

They rush down three flights of stairs and are met with the crisp, cold Chicago air, and Judal laughs against the wind as he drags Hakuryuu down the street. The night is nothing new or special but it's _theirs_ , and that's enough.


End file.
